Limestone carver from Oregon finds work in Midland

Published 11:04 am, Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Growing up, his father had worked as a brick layer and stone mason and Peter Attila Andrusko toyed with ideas of being a pilot, a scuba diver, a computer tech -- anything but working with bricks.

So when he graduated from Portland State University in Oregon with a degree in information systems and quantitative analysis, he looked to be working as far away from the stone industry as possible.

Or so he thought.

For a few years, he worked with his father's construction business doing small projects. Then he discovered stone carvings and it changed the course of his career.

Armed with a steel chisel, Andrusko now travels around the country as one of a few in the industry who still handcarves engravings into limestone. With Garden City being one of the largest limestone quarries close to West Texas, two projects within the past year have brought Andrusko from his native Portland to Midland.

Last fall, he was commissioned to carve names into pieces that could be on display at the new Wagner-Noel Performing Arts Center. This month, Andrusko has spent several weeks at the Abell-Hanger healing garden soon to be open at Midland Memorial Hospital.

For the Wagner-Noel, he carved the pieces in his studio in Oregon and had them installed after he completed them. But for the MMH project, he's been staying at a nearby hotel and working on site for several weeks carving the names of donors into the walls.

"There really aren't very many professional letter cutters," he said.

It takes Andrusko time to carve the letters and he averages engraving only about three to four lines of text per day. A stencil that is attached to the wall allows him to move through the process easier rather than hand-drawing each line.

He still uses his computer graphic background by utilizing technology in the studio to plan out the design before he begins. About 80 percent of the work, he said, is spent in studio before going out to the field.

With his work at the Wagner-Noel, there was a concern the letters and names of the donors would not be readable on the natural stone with which he worked. For a couple of weeks, Andrusko worked on site there hand painting the letters, a process he said can be tedious and time consuming.

But it's something he said produces a uniqueness and finess for his clients.

"It's special," he said.

When organizations or companies are looking for a way to recognize those who have given generously, many look for the most elegant way of expressing their gratitude. For him, it is in carving names and text into something that will last thousands of years.

Andrusko is self taught and said he's lucky to have something he's good at and passionate for. He's learned the trade by watching other skilled carvers and studying architectural sites all over the world.

He started his business, the Andrusko Group, in 1990 and said he plans to keep adding to it and evolving the work that he does. Different commissions take him around the world. He is a consultant or artisan on projects that include the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park.

"It's not something common. It takes an extreme amount of patience and care. There's no room for error," he said.

The end result is something in which Andrusko always takes a lot of satisfaction and pride.